5. Shanghai, China

Elmo Palmer - Fotolia.com

China’s whipping its wheels of industry and Shanghai is one of its projects. The current scale of development is so extreme that construction approvals and decisions are being made in a matter of hours compared to months in Western countries. This explains the city’s Pudong district, considered the downtown core that includes the city’s tallest building, the Jin Mao Tower, plus the Oriental Pearl Tower, which is a mall, hotel and observation spot.

You’ll see more of the city’s past along its waterfront in The Bund area with more colonial architecture styles. Increasingly, this style is being displaced by modern pieces like the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and the future claim to the “world’s tallest” building — the World Financial Center. Not sure where China is headed? Look up.